In his book “Man’s Search for Meaning”, Frankl addresses a variety of important issues regarding the essence of human existence and the mystery of God. The main part of his argument in this book is centered on finding the power that makes people act in this or that way. In contrast to Freud’s famous theory regarding pleasure as a motivation for everything that people do, Frankl argues that in their life, people are motivated by the pursuit of what they find really important and valuable, and for many people, it is not acquiring pleasure. In the following paper, Frankl’s book will be addressed in terms of its author’s position concerning the mystery of God and human beings. Overall, the quintessence of Frankl’s argument regarding the mystery of God and human beings can be seen in his theory of logotherapy that shows people as living entities who find satisfaction in searching for the meaning of everything around them including God almighty.
In “Man’s Search for Meaning”, Frankl speaks about his experience in the Nazi concentration camps, and on the basis of the events seen there, he makes his own supposition regarding the mystery of God and human beings. Studying the examples from people’s lives along with his own example, and carefully meditating on them, Frankl begins to believe that a number of people are motivated by the other ideas and principles that are much more exalted than merely satisfying their needs for pleasure and happiness.
Frankl comes to a conclusion that actually people are motivated by their pursuit for meaning and for what is really important in the Universe around them. On the basis of this conclusion, he forms his well-known theory of logotherapy that can be seen as the essence of his argument in “Man’s Search for Meaning”.
The logotherapy theory has a wide scope because it includes points that are both related to human beings and to the mystery of God as well. In this theory, God is shown as the embodiment and the object of human exalted needs or spiritual needs. Seeing that hundreds of people in the Nazi concentration camps were ready to suffer a lot of pain merely because of their faith in God, and they could leave the place any day and at any time just if they had rejected their faith in God, Frankl came to a conclusion that there existed a mystery of God and human being. According to Frankl, the mystery is in the fact that the need of worshipping someone divinely exalted may help people pass through the most troublesome events in their lives.
In conclusion, the book “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Frankl provides an insight into the world of spiritual mystery. The theory of logotherapy, developed in the book’s argument, suggests that human being is much more complicated than Freud was trying to depict. In particular, meditating on the examples of people put into the Nazi concentration camps, Frankl begins to think that the real meaning of human existence is in searching for meaning, but not in acquiring something material. In the book, the author argues that although some people identify meaning with acquiring material things, the other ones continue for their searches, and they usually identify meaning with being God’s worshippers. Frankl even shows that at times, when people are robbed of their material values in the circumstances such as those in the concentration camps, they come to change their world perception, and they begin to value spiritual matters more than materialistic ones.